Open Discussion – May 20 2015

Hi! Santiago here. As announced last week, I will be doing a weekly open discussion thread. Share whatever is on your mind, current or past events. Keep in mind not everything has to be news related here, talk about your week or your plans for the weekend or any suggestions you may have for the blog.

A big thanks to participants and subscribed followers.

This last week has been filled with some interesting stories. Zimmerman is back in the news again and it appears he is once again the “victim”. Apparently George has followed through in pressing charges against Apperson.

My personal thoughts, is anybody allowed to stand their ground with this clown? I think the only thing that’s going to come of this is a waste of tax payer dollars, but it will be fun to watch George take the stand if he really intends on this going through…

It is funny to see some Dunn supporters stand up for George in this regard. Apperson thought he saw George waive his gun. Dunn swore up and down Jordan had a gun… even though no gun was ever found in the SUV that Dunn shot up. George on the other hand, did indeed have his gun. But, it’s funny to sit back and watch the hypocrisy flow from the nutters.

Waco presented us a 5 biker gang brawl that ended up with a shoot out leaving 9 dead and more than 170 arrest. In fact, it turns out one of those arrested is a retired detective. So let me get this straight — cops retire to become bad guys! What’s going on here? I wonder if throughout the investigation if we will learn that this former Detective did certain favors for his “Club”?

Still gets me that basically these criminals were told to just have a seat and wait until someone comes over to cuff them as if there was some sort of honor system.

Visitation for B.B. King will be on Friday. R.I.P.

No charges for the officer who shot Vonderitt Myers, while another officer, Matt Kenny, who shot another unarmed teen wants his job back. Can we please start to see some sort of change, and I am not talking about what brand of coffee we are drinking everyday either.

Marilyn Mosby seeks gag order in the Baltimore six case, and rightfully so. It’s obvious that police unions and their attorneys have been using the media to sway public opinion. I am glad this prosecutor is not having any of their nonsense. I firmly believe that the justice system should work the same way it does when any other citizens are charged and not this special treatment and help that officers gone wild tend to get when they break the law.

NEW VIDEO IN THE DEATH OF FREDDIE GRAY

The Baltimore Sun did some investigative work in the death of Freddie Gray. Turns out that the police removed a surveillance video. The Sun recovered it. It shows one of the van stops, and that police shackled Freddie and threw him into the van head first.

My Rant

Let me just add this — those who are out there throwing up that police lives matter — nobody says their lives don’t matter, but I can tell you the difference between you and I… the difference is I have never supported someone who has been arrested and charged for homicide. So much for your respecting the law nonsense that you claim to do.

Any stories out there you wanna discuss or share, please feel free to comment.

Racer, oh my! I envy you. Please let him know that he has two fans here. Do you know if Timothy is still alive? The last I heard, he was not touring with them because of illness, but he’s been ill a long time.

Well………..Vinny agreed to play guitar and he and his wife sang backing vocals on one of my originals at the event I mentioned.Before we started I said to the effect I’d let Vinny pray us in. He did, and then went into a very cool talk about why can’t we all get along and why can’t we be color blind and stop the violence. He mentioned virtually every topic you and 3 Chics discuss on your blogs.

He talked about internet blogs and the like which are getting the information to the people and how we can talk about getting things right. I did say “it takes a rocker” to see this and say it public. He talked about the gun violence and why do people need to carry guns and inflict hate on others.

He referenced Baltimore, Ferguson, L.A. & a bunch of other places and events. I’d have thought he just got off your sites………..which made us all feel great.

Lets face the facts……..the only one who could legally claim he was standing his ground on 2/26/12 was a minor named Trayvon Martin. Shellies dad should have stood his ground as well, and bitch slapped that piece of crap till his eyes fell out his asshole..

This afternoon, Michael Brown Sr. — the father of 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. — snapped on a pair of rubber gloves, walked to the spot in the middle of Canfield Drive where his son was shot and killed, and began to scoop stuffed animals and other trinkets into a black garbage bag.

“It’s time for the city to heal,” he said moments before he began. “I need to heal.”

Thanks for the kind words, I think we need to keep the open discussions going so that we can share opinions ideas stories that havent been covered and heck perhaps mess around and share a laugh every now and then

Enjoy your online News sites/feeds. Personally, I haven’t bought a newspaper in years.

However, DO NOT EVER post a comment. If you’re smart, don’t even read the comments. Whether from weakness or an insatiable curiosity (I prefer to think it is the latter!), I still peek occasionally. I have learned, though, to stop reading as soon as I feel my blood pressure rising. It seldom takes more than 3 or 4 comments before I’ve had my fill and move on.

By the same token, approach blogs with an abundance of caution. What appears at first to be a community of like-minded people can quickly disintegrate into your worst nightmare, The first time you question someone’s opinion or motives, you may discover they are no more than a mutual self-admiration society and YOU are not welcome!

Don’t let the psychic vampires suck the essence out of you and make you doubt yourself. Trust your own moral compass and don’t allow yourself to influenced by online strangers who don’t know you and certainly don’t have your best interests at heart. You’re a better person than that.

No, I don’t have a blog. I had commented on another blog that cropped up around the time of Trayvon Martin’s murder. That blog eventually led to Xena’s blog, which I still read. The former blog is pretty much out of commission right now.

Linda, bless your heart. Avoiding mean-spirited comments on the internet and particularly those posted on online news sources, is healthy. Oh — those psychic vampires. Don’t you love how they try to redefine people?

Mindyme said something once that has stuck with me. She said, “Hurting people hurt others.”

It also seems as though many harassers are afraid of the power of the internet to get the truth out and to make it possible for good people to come together to advocate for the creation of a better world that emphasizes fairness, justice, and equality.

Interesting comment by Deray:

deray mckesson @deray · 2h 2 hours agoIn many ways, I think that we are all creating new ways of digital community organizing. And it might just change the world.

Yes we have taken notice of how the Law Enforcement and media is minimizing their actions that lead to 9 deaths. Not sure why they wouldnt call them thugs as these gangs have ties with the AB but hey it is what it is I suppose

“But it’s nonetheless difficult to imagine that if a shoot-out involving dozens of young black men that ended with nearly 30 casualties had happened in a strip mall in Waco, it would be perceived as an isolated incident involving only the people who drew their guns — or that police would be chatting and friendly with people in the area in gang attire afterward,” Solomon wrote.

Shannon, I received an important lesson after opening this blog. The person identified as the ring leader who dedicated himself to silencing those he disagrees with by use of defamation, calls Whites who believe in equality “white guilt idiots.” In his perception, all Whites who recognize inequality do so out of guilt and are idiots. By virtue of his logic, those who advocate against domestic violence are also idiots and do so out of guilt. Those who advocate a cure for cancer are guilty and idiots.

It’s always ironic to me when a WP male makes a statement like ‘forget about the past’ and ‘stop pointing fingers’. With any relationship that suffers, it is impossible to move forward without owning the behavior caused the slight.

happy to see Mike win…..he won it fair and square in the challenges…..one thing i never understood was so many saying Mike put people on the jury? other that rodney i dont think Mike voted for any of them when they got booted out…Mike had no power over any of the votes after the merge…….possibly the jury figured that out on their own with each person thinking back that Mike didnt vote them out, their own pals voted them out.

Hey Bill. I think it was said that Mike put people on the jury because he continued winning individual immunity and also had a hidden immunity idol. So, they had to vote out others when they really wanted to vote out Mike. Ultimately, Carolyn and Will really hadn’t done anything to deserve the million other than outlast the others.

Bill, remember Rupert Boneham? Twice he played, and twice he didn’t make it to the final 3. I wanted so badly for him to win, but he was always voted off because he was so well liked that if he sat in the final, he would win the million.

When he first played, the tribe would have starved if not for him. I remember Sandra being so mad that she threw the fish out when they returned from tribal counsel because Rupert had caught it, but they voted him out.

ty for the link, i recall him from watching it…i have watched most every season except the first one…..reality shows sports and comedies sums up most of my tv viewing…alaskan bush people starts a new season friday night…i enjoy the gold mining shows also.

wonder what derso has to say now that some of the evidence has been seen and not only were the original charges upheld new ones were added, intentional infliction of harm…..witnesses saw the FORCE used on him before he was put in the van…..then the van driver knowingly drove around wasting time with a person that needed immediate life saving care in his custody.

Man I can’t stand it that the videos don’t show up on my phone. Maybe it’s cuz I’m using the WordPress app instead of going to website. Immature check that out cuz this is an inconvenience now that I got my new fancy phone. 🙂

the NBA final 4 is being impacted by police brutality…..atlanta hawks player Thabo Sefalosha is out of the playoffs with a broken leg….seems the nypd broke his leg because he was on the same sidewalk that some other disturbance was happening, and of course tall black guy NEAR the area must be tackled and beaten just in case….the nba players association is about to file a lawsuit against the city of new york…….how this isnt making big news at this time astonishes me…..

Bill, thanks for posting that here. I read a headline about it. Not being a sports fan, I didn’t follow it but did find it interesting that it is another alleged case of police brutality. Do I understand correctly that there is a video captured that refuted the police story?

Thanks for the info, Bill. I read headlines and things in passing but so much is happening that I can’t keep up with everything. I so appreciate your participation and that of others here to keep us informed and up-to-date.